Intimacy in Secrecy
by Rayquaza45
Summary: After winning the Kanto Battle Frontier but losing to Gary Oak, a distraught Ash Ketchum decides to take a vacation in the Sevii Islands. Dawn is a Sinnoh region schoolgirl going to the Sevii Islands with some classmates as a school trip. First meetings don't always go as expected. When two lives meet, something is born. AU. Possibly OOC. PearlShipping. AaDl. Please read and review
1. Chapter 1

**Rayquaza45:** *bad Isshin Kurosaki impression* Heloooooooooooo READERS!

Have you missed me? Cause I know I missed you! Maybe you haven't missed me if you're following my 'Haruhi Suzumiya-Maid Sama' Crossover but if you're not following it, you've missed me :D

Or you don't know who I am...

So, for those of you who know me, you'll remember (maybe) that when I ended Masters of Johto, I said I'd been working on a new, romance-based fanfic. And here it is! I'd like to thank **Gerbiltftw** for keeping quiet about it :D (if he remarks that it was unnecessary, _he's gonna get it_)

This is a PearlShipping fic set between the Battle Frontier arc and the Sinnoh arc of the Pokemon anime. But it is an AU (Alternate Universe) fic. What happened in the anime won't necessarily happen here. Also, the ages of the characters have been advanced. Ash is 13, as is Dawn. Her 'classmates' too.

You'll be filled in on the other differences as we go along. There might be some characters who are OOC (or at least, who have their negative aspects greatly exaggerated) but that's for the purpose of the story and to reflect their new ages as teenagers.

Special thanks to **SurferGurl14** for being my beta reader. Go check out her stories cause she's a great writer.

So without further ado, I now present my PearlShipping fic: Intimacy in Secrecy.

* * *

**Chapter 1: That's Where It's At!**

"Pikachu!" The raven-haired trainer shouted as his pokémon was smashed into the ground by the powerful thunder punch.

"Electivire!" The thunderbolt pokémon victoriously shouted as it flexed its arms and stood over the defeated electric mouse.

"Pikachu is unable to battle." A boy in a green shirt announced. "Gary and Electivire are the winners!"

The brown-haired trainer held out his pokéball and recalled his victorious Electivire.

"Good job, Electivire!" Gary told his pokémon from outside its ball.

"Pikachu, are you okay?" Ash asked his defeated pokémon as he held it in its arms.

"Piiiika." The electric mouse pokémon weakly said.

"Well, Ash, it seems the Battle Frontier conqueror isn't as tough as his reputation would imply." Gary taunted. "Maybe you ought to be more like me when it comes to pokémon."

"What was that?" Ash angrily shouted.

"Of course, even if you did, it probably wouldn't help you much." Gary said. "A loser's a loser."

"LOSER!"

* * *

Following the battle, Ash ended up staying at his house for a few more days. Everything Gary said to him had stayed in his head and continued to eat at him from inside. How was it that after winning the Battle Frontier, he could lose to Gary, who he'd beaten before? How could Pikachu lose to his Electivire after it had defeated the legendary Regice? Was Gary right? Was he really just a loser?

Gary told him that he was going to the Sinnoh region to train his pokémon and learn more. Ash opted not to go there for now, deciding that he can't get any better by following someone else. He walked around his house for a little while, forgetting why he went to each room and not staying long in each one. Eventually, while in the living room, he saw his mom enter the house.

"Ash?" Delia Ketchum asked.

"Mom?" Ash answered. "What is it?"

"Are you still upset about losing your battle against Gary?" She asked her son.

"What, no!" Ash said, trying to convince her.

"A mother knows when her son's upset." Delia replied. "Why don't you see Professor Oak?"

"Professor Oak?"

"He might have some way to help you out."

"_Couldn't hurt."_ Ash thought to himself as he gestured to Pikachu to follow him.

* * *

At Professor Oak's lab, Ash met up with Tracey and Professor Oak as expected. They spent quite a while discussing other regions in the world that are filled with trainers. Professor Oak understood that Gary's arrogance was uncalled for but was unable to do anything since he'd already left for Sinnoh.

Tracey mentioned regions like Unova and islands like Almia and Orre that Ash could go. But Ash wasn't interested, feeling that he wasn't interested in another league competition just yet and felt more like going to a region to relax, if anything. If he'd gone to Unova, he'd probably get himself involved in another tournament for no reason. When Professor Oak mentioned an area close to the Kanto region, Ash suddenly developed some interest.

"The Sevii Islands?" Ash asked.

"They're a series of islands that are located to the south-east of Kanto." Professor Oak explained. "They're mostly tourist attractions but there're quite a few areas for trainers to get together."

"So there're seven islands?" Ash inquired.

"Actually, there are seven central islands and two more islands which are uninhabited." The professor said. "Each island-"

"And the pokémon league?" Ash interrupted.

"There are no gyms on the islands, so there are no official league competitions." The professor said. "You'll be able to do as you feel."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Ash said, jumping out of his seat and heading outside to the professor's field.

In the field outside the professor's lab, was the area where pokémon belonging to Ash and many other trainers stayed when they weren't traveling. Tracey watched as Ash released the pokémon he'd been keeping with him through his most recent Battle Frontier challenge.

Charizard, Bulbasaur and Squirtle came out of their pokéballs.

"Hey guys!" Ash greeted.

"Bulba!" "Squirt!" The pokemon said as Charizard roared magnificently.

"I'll be going to the Sevii Islands for a while." Ash told them. "Do you wanna stick with me?"

Charizard started flapping its wings, allowing it to get off the ground slightly. This was its way of saying yes. Bulbasaur nodded its head but Squirtle was hesitant.

Squirtle had initially left Ash's party to lead a group of Squirtle who fought fires in the Johto region. It had only planned to come back to Ash for his battle against Pyramid King Brandon and was unsure if it could stay and neglect its duties as leader.

"Squirtle, are you worried about your gang in Johto?" Ash asked.

"Squirtle." The tiny turtle pokémon squealed.

"Well we'll see what they say." Ash assured it as he then turned to the electric mouse on his shoulder. "How about you?"

"Pi-Ka!" Pikachu said, wondering why Ash even needed to ask.

"I guess that's it." Ash decided. "I wonder who else I should bring."

Almost immediately after saying that, a bird with red and blue feathers approached Ash and his pokémon from behind.

"Swellow!" The trainer called out upon seeing it.

"Swellow!" The swallow pokémon called out.

"Have you been eavesdropping?" Ash jokingly asked it.

"Swe!"

"Does that mean you wanna come to the Sevii Islands too?" Ash asked it.

"Swell!" It said as it nodded its head.

"Then that just leaves one more!" Ash said. "And I know just who I'll need."

Ash walked around Professor Oak's field a little more, having one pokémon in mind that could help him out if he got into a battle on the Sevii Islands and would also enjoy the scenery. Walking a little more, he found a tall, green bipedal lizard relaxing up in a tree.

"Sceptile!" Ash called out. "It's me! Come on down!"

"Scept!" The forest pokémon said as it jumped down from the tree in ninja-like fashion and stood face-to-face with Ash.

"How are you feeling?" Ash asked.

The fully evolved grass-type starter from Hoenn simply stared at its trainer with little expression, indicating its indifference.

"_Not entirely surprising since he hasn't had a battle for a while."_ Ash thought to himself. _"I guess he needs to get back into the groove of things."_

"We're going to the Sevii Islands." Ash told it. "Wanna come?'

"Scept?" The forest pokémon asked.

"I'm taking something of a vacation there; I thought you'd like to come." Ash explained. "We can take as long as we want. You don't need to worry; we can still participate in pokémon battles if we want."

"Sceptile!" The forest pokémon enthusiastically said. It was rare for Sceptile to be eager for anything other than an immediate battle.

"_I guess I've got my team!" _Ash thought.

"Hey! Ash!" A voice called out from the distance.

"Huh?" Ash muttered as he turned around and noticed Tracey running towards him.

"You forgot this!" Tracey said as he handed Ash a small rectangular card.

It was coloured with all the colours of rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Within each of the colours was a word: Knot, Boon, Kin, Floe, Chrono, Fortune and Quest. 'Knot' was inscribed inside the red, 'Boon' inside the orange, and so on.

"What is this?" Ash asked, turning the card around in his hand.

"It's called the 'Rainbow Pass'." Tracey explained. "You're gonna need it to get from one island to another when you reach the Sevii Islands."

"So it's kind of like a universal pass?" Ash asked.

"I guess you can call it that." Tracey shrugged. "Professor Oak told me to give it to you before you left."

"Well, I was gonna come back." Ash laughed. "I haven't even told my mom I was leaving."

Later that day, at around 5:30pm, Ash was on a ferry from Pallet Town that was scheduled to go to the Sevii Islands. Charizard, Bulbasaur, Sceptile, Swellow, Squirtle and, of course, Pikachu were with him. He had already told his mother about his planned journey to the Sevii Islands and she gave him her approval. Professor Oak even upgraded Ash's pokédex to give him information on pokémon he hadn't seen before, specifically those from the Sinnoh region.

He'd contacted the Officer Jenny who operated with the Squirtle firefighter squad and told her about his plans. She assured Ash that the squad would be fine without Squirtle and that he could keep it with him for as long as he needed. Squirtle was more than happy to hear that it could travel with its old friends again, and some new ones as well.

"This is gonna be great!" Ash told Pikachu.

"Pi-Ka!"

* * *

(Approximately 30 hours ago)

(Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh)

* * *

"Hi, Dawn!" A blue-haired lady said to her daughter as she entered the house. "Something came for you an hour ago."

"What?" The girl asked. "What is it?"

"It's a letter from your school." Her mother, Johanna, told her.

Dawn attended a school for up-and-coming kids interested in pokémon. The school had a four-year course for both coordinators and trainers. Students of every year would be split into two classes, one for coordinator and one for the trainers. At the age of thirteen, the next year would be Dawn's final year after which she would go out on a journey as a coordinator and challenge the contests of the Sinnoh region.

Her beginner was a Piplup which she'd been training since she was ten. Most of the kids at school were the same as her in that they only had one pokemon as well. Dawn's Piplup was strange since it refused to evolve unlike a lot of other kids who had their starters evolve already. Even with her only pokémon being unevolved, Dawn was a very skilled coordinator, having some of the best grades in the class.

"It's quite thick; it could be about that trip you applied for." Her mother said.

Everyone in Dawn's class applied for a trip to the Sevii Islands, south-east of the Kanto region. They were to go travel the islands and check out the sights such as the Trainer Tower and an eighth island known as 'Navel Rock'. Only six students of Dawn's year would be selected to go, three of which would be coordinators and the other three of which would be trainers.

"I've been accepted!" Dawn shrieked, reading the letter which had her name printed as one of the accepted travelers.

"Oh Dawn, that's fantastic." Her mother said.

Dawn continued reading the letter and, more importantly for her, the names of the other students who got it besides her.

"_Barry" _

Barry was a trainer at the school. He was extremely energetic but irritating. His starter had been a Piplup, just like Dawn, but it had since evolved into an Empoleon. He was probably one of the few trainers who Dawn didn't _totally_ hate. His father was the Tower Tycoon of the Sinnoh Battle Frontier and Barry was proud of it, hoping to be like him when he got older.

"_Kenny"_

Kenny was among the few male coordinators who was in Dawn's year since most of the others were in their first year. He and Dawn had known one another since they were in kindergarten, so they were pretty good friends. His starter was Piplup as well, but it had evolved into its second stage of Prinplup in the second year. It seemed to have a minor rivalry with Dawn's Piplup.

"_Zoey"_

Zoey was a coordinator just like Dawn and Kenny. She and Dawn met in their first year and consider the other their top rival in their year. Zoey skipped the process of choosing a starter pokémon and had a Glameow since she was ten years old.

"_Lucas"_

Lucas was a trainer like Barry. He was a popular guy since he was nice to everyone and was a really good battler. He'd even worked briefly with Professor Rowan before he went joined the school. His starter was a Chimchar which had recently evolved into its final stage of Infernape. He's also a food fanatic and never turns down a battle against a strong opponent.

"_Paul" _

Dawn cringed a little when she saw his name. He was a trainer who believed himself to be better than everyone else in the school. The only reason he was in the school was because his parents insisted he go there before starting his journey. He hated that they thought he was too young when trainers aged ten go out alone. His starter was a Turtwig which evolved into a Torterra early in the first year. He's a powerful battler with an undefeated record in school, though his grades were good, he gives everyone the cold shoulder and frequently insults them. The idea of going on the trip with him angered Dawn slightly.

"They haven't given you much time to prepare for the trip." Dawn's mom complained.

"No need to worry!" Dawn told her as she ran upstairs.

Several minutes later, Dawn returned with two suitcases. She'd evidently packed them ahead of time, in anticipation of being accepted.

"The letter says I should be at Twinleaf Port at 6:00pm!" Dawn exclaimed.

"That's only five hours from now!" Dawn's mother realized. "Rather irresponsible to inform you at the last minute like this."

"So then what?" Dawn asked.

"Nothing, dear." Her mom said. "I'll get you there on time."

* * *

Later that evening, at 5:45pm, Dawn loaded her suitcases on the ferry and got on, saying goodbye to her mother and the pokémon belonging to her mother: Glameow and Umbreon.

"Bye, Mom!" Dawn called out.

"Goodbye, honey!"

As the ship took off, Dawn walked around the passenger section. Not long after, she noticed someone.

"Hi, Zoey!" Dawn said as soon as she saw her friend.

"Hey there, Dawn." The redhead greeted her friend. "Sit down."

"Sure." Dawn said as she did. "So are you ready for this?"

"Sure am." She said. "So where's everyone else?"

"They must be here." Dawn replied.

"I see you two really got accepted." A voice said from behind. "I thought it was just a joke on the letter."

Just then, a tall purple-haired boy wearing a pair of grey pants and a dark purple vest with a blue shirt underneath showed up next to them.

"_Paul!"_ Dawn angrily thought.

"What do you want?" Zoey asked.

"Me? Nothing." Paul coldly answered as he walked away.

"What a jerk!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Let's not let him ruin our trip." Zoey consoled the fuming Dawn. "We've got like a whole day on this ferry before we get to One Island."

"I guess you're right." Dawn said.

* * *

(One day later)

(One Island/Knot Island Ferry Terminal)

* * *

"Welcome to One Island!" A man with glasses and a blue button-down shirt greeted the six students from Sinnoh.

"Students, this is Celio." Their teacher and chaperone, Mrs. Cantina told them. "He'll be our tour guide around the Sevii Islands."

It was now 6:00pm the day after they'd left Sinnoh. Even at 6:00pm, it was quite dark. It didn't take long to unload everyone's suitcases from the ferry, load them on the bus and actually get on the bus. At 6:10pm, they'd arrived at the entrance of an elegant-looking hotel with Blastoise statues near the fountains. After getting off the bus and unloading their luggage, the students turned to their tour guide.

"This is the Knot Island Palms Hotel." Celio told the group as they looked up at the gigantic hotel they'd be staying in for a few days. Even Paul was impressed.

"So let's get started." Mrs. Cantina said. "Lucas and Kenny, you'll be together in room 301."

"Got it." Lucas said.

"Alright." Kenny said.

"Paul and Barry, you'll be together in room 302." Mrs. Cantina told them.

"Great!" Barry shouted as Paul stayed silent.

"Finally. Dawn and Zoey, you'll be staying in room 303." Mrs. Cantina told them.

"We got it." Zoey told her.

"Alright then." Mrs. Cantina said as she put on a serious face. "Remember not to bother the front desk for any reason short of a fire. And if I catch anyone in anyone else's room, or anybody is going places without informing myself or Celio, then that's the end of it for you."

Every student nodded, all of them in fear of their strict teacher, aside from Paul.

"We'll be going around this island tomorrow" Celio told them. "For now, just get some rest since you've been on a long journey."

And with that, everyone entered the hotel and took an elevator to the upper floors. Once there, they all entered their rooms.

The room that was assigned to Dawn and Zoey had a gorgeous view of the One Island harbour. Their room had two beds, a television, a phone, a very clean bathroom, nice chairs and a DVD player for the television.

"Hey, Zoey, why's this island called 'Knot Island' and 'One Island' too?" Dawn asked.

"Every island here has a name based on its number and a name of its own." Zoey explained as she walked around, checking out the room. "This is One Island, also known as Knot Island. Two Island is the closest to here and it's also called Boon Island. I think that's where they got the names of the hotels in these parts."

Dawn, meanwhile, had stopped listening to Zoey somewhere after she mentioned that each town had a name based on its number as well as one of its own. She was now gracefully asleep on her bed as Zoey looked on at her tired roommate.

"I guess I can't blame you." Zoey smiled.

* * *

(5 minutes after Dawn's class got on the bus)

(One Island/Knot Island Ferry Terminal)

* * *

"Well, here we are!" Ash exclaimed as he got off the ferry.

"Pi-ka-chu?" The electric pokémon standing next to Ash asked him.

"What are you talking about?" Ash asked it. "I'm fine!"

"Pi?" Pikachu said.

"I'm sure!" Ash told it. "Let's just get to the Pokémon Centre!"

At the Pokémon Centre, Ash noticed a tall and elegant hotel off in the distance. He figured anyone staying there must've been pretty wealthy. Pikachu looked at said hotel for a little while too before they entered the Pokémon Centre to stay the night, not knowing what kind of adventures awaited them on these islands which seemed both foreign and familiar at the same time.

As Ash lay in his bed, with Pikachu by his side, he looked up at the ceiling, having yet to fall asleep.

"This is gonna be something we'll always remember."

"Pi-Ka!" Pikachu said, agreeing with its trainer.

* * *

**Rayquaza45**: Alright readers, so how was it? I know there are probably some things I ought to improve, but I am working on it. Review!

As I guess you realized, Dawn is a schoolgirl from the Sinnoh region while Ash is...Ash, though more moody, which happens when one is a teenager. Mrs. Cantina is a relative of gym leader Fantina (though lacks that ridiculous accent Fantina had in the English dub) and Celio is their guide (players of FireRed and LeafGreen will be familiar with him, though familiarity is not necessary).

Sinnoh rivals like Paul, Kenny and Zoey are Dawn's classmates but Kenny, Dawn and Zoey are coordinators while Paul, Barry and Lucas (who hasn't been in the anime) are trainers of the same age.

Sorry if you dislike my portrayal of Gary. However, I wanted a kind of 'silent, unseen antagonist' to psychologically motivate Ash, so I hope you'll forgive me :)

Yup. Ash has Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Swellow, Sceptile and CHARIZARD with him. How awesome is that! They'll be travelling the Sevii Islands together. How will it work out?

Next time - **Chapter 2: Friends Gather, Strangers**** Stalk**

Somebody is gonna be followed and someone is gonna do the following. Wonder who ;)

So PLEASE read and review (been a while since I said that :D)

Till next time!


	2. Friends Gather, Strangers Stalk

**Rayquaza45:** Hello readers!

I hope you haven't been waiting too long for this new chapter. I know if I were into a story, I wouldn't wanna wait too long.

Anyways, I know this may or may not have started like some have expected but does anything really? If it were as you expected, it'd hardly be worth reading.

I guess some changes or some things weren't well received since they may not have been taken from the anime, but that's the purpose of AU.

Anyways, enough of this :P

I wanna thank Surfergurl14 for her work in beta reading this chapter.

Please read and review :)

* * *

**Chapter 2: Friends Gather, Strangers Stalk**

"I'm Ash Ketchum….the Kanto Battle Frontier…win…winner." The 13 year old boy muttered in his sleep.

Ash had come to the Sevii Islands just yesterday from Pallet Town in Kanto and obtained a room at the Pokémon Centre on One Island, the first of seven main islands. It was now 10:00am the next morning as the raven haired trainer lay in bed, his sheets and blanket on the ground and his pillow under his feet. His faithful buddy, Pikachu, slept peacefully on the floor; almost completely covered by the blanket Ash had thrown off.

"AAAHHHHH!" The pokémon trainer yelled as he finally woke up.

"Pi!" The electric rodent said as it woke up, having heard its trainer's yell.

"Good mornin', Pikachu." Ash said to his faithful pokémon as it climbed up onto his shoulder.

"Pikapi!"

"Let's go down."

The ground floor of the Pokémon Centre was much larger than that of the average Pokémon Centre. The Nurse Joy of the centre was working diligently. Ash noticed a curiously large machine in the corner where many people roughly the same age as him were crowding around, strange that he didn't notice it last night when he arrived. He approached a boy his age, dressed in olive green pants and a blue jacket over a black T-shirt.

"Hey, what with this machine?" Ash asked the boy.

"It's the Pokemon Net Centre machine!" The boy answered. "It's the machine which allows trainers on the Sevii Islands to trade pokémon with other trainers from Kanto, Hoenn and a bunch of other regions."

"Are trades of that distance even possible?" Ash asked.

"Normally no, but the top regional engineer Celio worked with an engineer named Bill from Kanto and made it. It's revolutionary!" He told Ash. "Now trainers from all over the Sevii Islands, and even some from Kanto and the Orange Islands, are coming here to try it out."

"Wow." Ash said.

"You're not from these parts, are you?" The boy asked.

"Nah, I came from the Kanto region last night." Ash told him.

"Are you here to try out the machine?"

"Me?" I'm not really all that interested in pokémon trades. I'm just here on vacation." Ash explained. "I got here last night but I didn't notice this thing here."

"Well that's understandable, I guess; the machine is closed off at night." He said. "Oh, so sorry, my name is Bryce."

"I'm Ash, and this is Pikachu."

"Pika Pikachu!"

"Nice meeting you two." Bryce held his hand out.

"You too." Ash said as they shook hands.

"Well if you wanna know anything 'bout these islands, my house is the green-roofed one outside." Bryce told him.

"Thanks a lot." Ash said.

Bryce had remained in the Pokémon Centre to trade for some pokémon while Ash and Pikachu left to explore.

* * *

One Island was apparently among the least populated islands in the Sevii Archipelago but it had recently received a boost in tourism from the other islands due to the Pokémon Net Centre machine and it was often the first spot for tourists to go, evident since many people were there. Ash and Pikachu walked around the town and noticed a sign in front of the ferry harbor that they had missed last night.

"_Friends gather at Knot Island"_

"Hmmmmm." Ash muttered.

"Pi-ka." Pikachu added.

"Let's just get a move o-" Ash said as turned around and was bumped into by a rushing blonde teenager.

"Ow, what's wrong with you?" The blonde shouted at him.

"Me? You're the one running around in a crowded area." Ash scolded him.

"Aaargh, whatever, I gotta go!" The rude boy said as he ran off.

"Pipipikachu!" The electric mouse angrily shouted as the boy was out of sight.

"Let it go, for now." Ash told his friend.

Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder, walked away from the crowded ferry harbor and down into a beach area. Many couples were on the beach playing volleyball, swimming in the shallow water or doing things in the bushes when they thought nobody was looking. Out of the corner of his eye, Ash noticed a luxurious hotel surrounded by elegant statues and palm trees. Closer inspection of the hotel revealed its name to be the "Knot Island Palms Hotel".

"This is that place we saw last night." Ash realized.

"Pika!" The electric mouse said.

"Yeah, I guess w-" Ash started before something caught his eye.

In plain view of his was a girl with lustrous blue hair, wearing a mini dress which was mostly black with a white undershirt inside a V-shaped neck with a short pink skirt. 'Short' being the operative word.

She was walking alongside a girl who had red hair and wore blue jeans, a burgundy shirt underneath an orange vest. Both girls had a pokémon following them; a small blue penguin was following the cute girl while a grey cat pokémon followed the other.

"Wow." Ash said in awe as he looked at the girl walking alongside the beach, engaged in a conversation with the redhead.

"Pipipikaka." Pikachu sneered.

"You watch your mouth!" Ash told it, having understood what it meant. "I'd….never…."

"Pi?"

"Let's see where she goes." Ash said, making sure to follow the girl in a way that she wouldn't suspect anything.

In the distance, where nobody but himself and the girls were, Ash continued to follow her. Every time she or the other girl looked behind, he hid behind a tree or a large rock. Pikachu remained on his shoulder throughout the ordeal, constantly shaking its head. Indeed, it was fairly uncharacteristic for Ash to do anything like this. He was almost behaving like Brock.

"Pi-Ka-Chu?" The electric rodent asked its trainer.

"Come on, Pikachu." Ash pleaded. "Keep quiet, you know I'm fine!"

Pikachu was shocked. Ash had never spoken to Pikachu in such a manner. It was evident that he wasn't thinking straight.

"Let's see where they go." Ash whispered quietly.

* * *

The girls and their pokémon walked to a secluded area of the beach, picking up some shiny rocks along the way. They both met one another behind some rocks and assumed the battle position. Their pokémon got up in front of them and stared one another down as Ash hid behind a tree and watched.

The sea surrounding this part of the beach was surprisingly rough and fast, unlike the more calm waters near the ferry harbor. The tides were coming in, but did not pose any threat due to their relatively small size.

"Alright Piplup, use bubblebeam!" The blue haired girl ordered.

"Glameow, dodge and use shadow claw!" The red haired girl told her pokemon.

"Pip!" The penguin pokémon shouted as it unleashed its barrage of bubbles at the catty pokemon. Glameow managed to effortlessly dodge them and hit Piplup in the crown with its shadow claw, pushing the penguin pokémon back.

"Nice one, Zoey!" The Piplup's trainer called out.

"Don't lose focus, Dawn." Her friend replied. "We're here to train since we don't get to Trainer Tower till Seven Island."

"Remind me again, why are we breaking the rules about battling before we get there?" Dawn asked.

"Because we wanna get stronger before we have to take the seven floor challenge!" Zoey replied. "So keep focused unless you wanna get beaten!"

"I won't lose!" Dawn said affirmatively, clenching her fist. "Piplup, hydro pump!"

"Piiiipluppppp!" The penguin pokémon shouted as it unleashed a powerful stream of water at Glameow, who was swept out to the sea surrounding the beach by the powerful attack. The catty pokémon was floating in the waters around 10 meters away from the shore in the deep water, too far for either Zoey or Dawn to swim.

"Glaaaaa!" The catty pokémon shouted as it battled the currents, trying to stay afloat.

"Glameow!" Zoey cried out.

Suddenly, Zoey and Dawn saw a small turtle-like pokémon with half its body above the water heading out and rescuing Glameow from the rapid waters. It quickly reached Glameow and instructed it to hold onto its hard shell as it swam back to shore. It amazed the girls that such a small pokémon could brave the waters in such a way, least of all with another pokémon on its back. The turtle pokémon got back to the shores and left while Glameow dried itself off.

"Glameow, are you alright?" Zoey asked her pokémon, who purred.

As if on cue, Ash came out from the tree with Squirtle walking alongside him and Pikachu on his shoulder.

"Are you two alright?" Ash asked.

"Was…..was that your pokémon that saved my Glameow?" Zoey asked.

"Yeah, lucky, huh." Ash smiled.

"Not exactly." Dawn said, coming to confront Ash.

"What?" Zoey asked.

"Never mind now, get over to the Pokémon Centre." Dawn said.

"Yeah, right." Zoey said, recalling her pokémon into its pokéball and running off. "Thanks!"

"So, why were you following us?" Dawn asked Ash after Zoey had left their sight.

"Following you?" Ash asked. How exactly did she figure it out? He walked a good distance behind them and hid behind a tree every time one of them looked back.

"I could see you from Zoey's make-up mirror." Dawn revealed. "Why did you follow us?"

"I wasn-"

"Come on, I know you were following both of us to-"

"I was only following you!" Ash insisted, inadvertently saying something he really shouldn't have.

His eyes opened wider than ever after he realized that by trying to defend himself from her accusation, he had ended up revealing something he shouldn't have.

"Really?" Dawn smiled. "You were following _me_?"

"Squirtle." "Pi Pikachu." Ash's pokémon gleefully said.

"_Oh great." _Ash thought.

"It's alright, I'm may not do anything about it." Dawn told him.

"I may have been….walking around….behind you." Ash did his best to say it in a way that wouldn't make him look like a complete pervert since he didn't know exactly how old she was. He was at least a few inches taller than her but they were the same age, they just didn't know it yet.

"So what, you didn't have the courage to come straight up to me?" She jokingly asked.

"Pip Piplup." The penguin pokémon added.

"Squirt!" Ash's Squirtle shouted.

"Settle down, Squirtle." Ash said.

"Squirtle?" Dawn asked. "It's only found in the Kanto region, right?"

"That's right." Ash replied.

"So you're from Kanto?"

"Yeah, I just got here last night." Ash revealed.

"Me too!" Dawn squealed.

"Really?" Ash asked. "I never saw you."

"I came from the Sinnoh region with my classmates and teacher." Dawn told him. "We've been staying at the Knot Island Palms Hotel."

"You're from Sinnoh?" Ash was amazed, Sinnoh region trainers on the Sevii Islands. He'd really just come to the Sevii Islands to avoid going to Sinnoh like Gary did.

"Yup!" Dawn smiled.

"So right…about stalking you…"

"Let's just pretend that it didn't happen." Dawn suggested. She started looking at the boy more carefully, realizing that he was quite handsome in a rugged way. "Why don't we go back together?"

"Is it okay for you to be with someone who isn't from your class?" Ash asked. "Wouldn't you get in trouble?"

"Not if they don't see us." Dawn said slyly.

"Pi!" "Piplup." "Squirtle."

Ash and Dawn walked back to the crowded area of the beach together with their pokémon on their shoulders. Squirtle had returned to its pokéball.

Dawn told Ash all about her school for coordinators and trainers, how everyone was always in competition with someone from the other group. She, Zoey and another boy were the three coordinators selected for the trip while three trainers had come along too. She mentioned all three of them but put a lot of focus on describing Paul in a negative light.

"He sounds like a complete jerk, thinking he's better than everyone just because he's won battles." Ash angrily stated.

"Yeah!" Dawn agreed.

Ash started to develop somewhat of a grudge against this Paul trainer. He likened him to Gary Oak and how they criticize those they defeat. People like that sickened Ash.

"_I'm gonna challenge this guy and show him the real world."_ Ash thought.

"So this is the hotel we've been staying in." Dawn said, looking up to the huge hotel and its two statues of Lugia and Ho-Oh.

"It's huge." Ash said, looking up at the elegant building.

"Ugh. There's Paul." Dawn said, disgusted. She pointed out a boy with purple hair, slightly taller than Ash.

"So he's a good trainer in your school, how does he battle?" Ash asked as he looked over at the guy.

"He's never lost and refuses to rebattle anyone he's beaten before." Dawn explained. "I learned that the hard way."

* * *

(Coordinator/Trainer Academy of Sinnoh)

(Several months ago)

* * *

Dawn had been selected for an official school battle. The matches were to pit the coordinators against the trainers in a battle to determine which group deserved a certain prize. Her opponent was Paul, the pokémon trainer. His starter had been a Turtwig that evolved into a Torterra early in his first year and he'd never lost a battle. It's was his first match against Dawn.

The battle went of for a short while. Dawn's Piplup was at a serious disadvantage against Paul's Torterra, which had a type advantage as well as many powerful attacks.

"Pip!" The penguin pokémon shouted, stubbornly refusing to give up.

"Torterra!" The continent pokémon boomed, standing tall and proud, nearing victory without having taken much damage.

"Torterra, use frenzy plant!" Paul ordered.

"Tor….terra!" Torterra shouted as its body became outlined in green and it slammed its front two legs into the ground. Giant roots with spikes on them come out of the ground and struck the already injured opponent. Piplup was sent flying back into a wall, knocking it out.

"Piplup is unable to battle!" The referee declared. "Paul and Torterra are the winners."

* * *

(Sevii Islands, One Island)

(Present day)

* * *

"Frenzy plant?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, it's a powerful attack for grass-type pokémon." Dawn said.

"I know, they call it a grass-type version of hyper beam." Ash said. "So what happened when you fought Paul again?"

"Nothing because he refused to rebattle me!" Dawn shouted.

"Refused?" Ash wondered.

"A while after Piplup healed up, I managed to teach it how to use hydro pump since Torterra is part ground-type." Dawn explained. "I asked Paul if we could have another battle…and he….and he…"

"And he…what?"

"_When you defeat someone, that person is trash and they no longer exist."_ Paul coldly said in Dawn's mind. _"Therefore a rematch is impossible."_

"This guy's such a creep." Ash said, fuming with anger.

"He is and the fact that he's so good means nobody has ever beaten him so he keeps acting that way." Dawn ranted.

Upon hearing that, Ash took off his hat and put his hood on for the first time ever. He put his hat in the front pocket of his hoodie and walked into the hotel with his hands in his jeans pocket.

The ground floor of the hotel was a luxury-meets-efficiency style area. The Knot Island Palms Hotel combined modern versions of architecture, decoration and technology with luxury and relaxation. Every known luxury seemed to be in the amazing floor, comfortable couches, wireless internet, and vending machines. It took all of Ash's restraint to keep him from the snack cart.

Dawn started looking at Ash. His entire personality seemed to change into a dark and moody loner, grabbing her attention. She immediately ran into the hotel after Ash and found him sitting down on a sofa. Sitting down next to him, she took his hand.

"What're you doing?" Dawn asked.

"I'm gonna challenge this Paul guy when he comes back in here and make him sorry." Ash told her, his voice grumbling.

"What's with the hood?"

"I'm not supposed to be here, right?"

"You don't have to hide yourself!" Dawn exclaimed. "Nobody knows you don't belong here."

"Guess not." Ash said, taking his hood off and sitting around.

The hotel's elevator then arrived at the ground floor and a boy with blonde hair exited. He wore a white and orange striped shirt stepped out and walked towards Dawn and noticed her holding the hand of a boy he'd never seen before.

"Hey there, Dawn." The blonde guy said.

"Barry, where were you?" Dawn asked him. "You went to that market stall and we haven't seen you since."

The blonde put his palms on each of his ears and started pressing forcefully. "Mrs. Cantina kept lecturing me about why the pool is not the place to eat pasta and stuff."

Dawn looked at Barry with an 'are you serious' look, who was dumb enough to eat pasta in the pool, let alone let anyone see you do it. Ash started laughing subtly at the statement; this boy was just as crazy as he looked.

"Who the hell are you?" Barry asked the raven-haired boy sitting next to his classmate.

"Why do you care?" Ash retorted, taking off his hood.

"Pi Pikachu!" The electric rodent shouted.

"Hey, you're that dork that bumped into me earlier today!" Barry exclaimed.

"It was you who bumped me, blondie." Ash responded.

"Is it so hard to admit your mistakes?" Barry asked.

"Only the ones I never made." Ash said, narrowing his eyes.

"Pi!" The electric rodent shouted at the blonde trainer, who just laughed.

"What are you? Trying to show off?" Barry joked.

The comment got Ash angry enough to stand up as Pikachu jumped on his shoulder. He had no intention of letting some strange boy insult his pokémon or accuse him of doing something he didn't do.

"Oh? Looking for a fight?" Barry asked him.

"I will if you will."

"Oh, I will."

"Then meet me outside. Unless you're too scared" The raven-haired pokémon trainer told the blonde, walking out of the hotel and leaving Dawn and Barry looking onwards.

"I'd apologize if I were you." Dawn told Barry.

"Not happening." Barry said as he exited the hotel. "I'm the second best in school, no nobody trainer is gonna beat me!"

* * *

On the outside of the hotel, the beach was filled with people. Ash wasted no time getting to the centre of the beach while Barry quickly followed. Dawn's classmates Kenny, Lucas and Paul saw the crowds gathering around the two teenagers and decided to watch from afar but came to the centre when other people began to block their view.

Ash and Barry stood apart on a makeshift battlefield, staring down the other.

"You first." Barry confidently said, allowing Ash to choose first.

"Go for it, Pikachu!" Ash shouted.

* * *

**Rayquaza45: **Well, it looks like there's gonna be a battle next time around. Will Ash take care of Barry or will Barry be the victor?

Yeah, I know, the characters are a bit different, to say the least. Negative aspects have been exaggerated, as was said, for the purpose of conflict.

So now, have you got something to say? Please write a review. I'd like to know what you think so I can improve my writing.

Till next time!


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